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EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION AT THE WORKPLACE:

A CASE STUDY OF SAUDI ARABIAN COMPANY (XYZ HYPERMARKET)

Dennis Fajardo

Haidee Soriano

Theophilus Nii Sowah Adjetey

Vadym Cheban

Volodymyr Huba

Weiden Business School, Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden

Organizational Behavior

Dr. Elisa Weisman

29.04.2022
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CONTENTS

1. Introduction....................................................................................................................3

2. Main Body......................................................................................................................5

2.1 Case Scenario.............................................................................................................5

2.2 Problem Questions and Answers...............................................................................7

2.3 Theories of Motivation and its Relevance to the Case..............................................9

3. Conclusion....................................................................................................................12

References.........................................................................................................................13
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1. Introduction

There are many great places at which to work. These are organizations where people feel trusted,

where management is truly supportive, and organizations that avoid the bureaucracy and levels

of approval that are too open to get in the way of innovation (Stewart, 2013).

Motivation plays a significant role in building the organization and in achieving its objective.

Employee motivation is important since every employee has the right to their view and therefore

the employee’s view of motivation differs from one employee to another. Particular individual

places working conditions first, to another one working conditions are not so essential and for

some people, they are insignificant at all. The same applies also to other situations, namely job

security, attitude towards employees, challenges in the workplace, and perhaps the opportunities

for promotions or remuneration. However, a high number of employees value proper payment

extremely. Any assumption (perception) is essential for motivation in a particular environment.

The work environment is a significant component for any employee. It differs greatly from

organization to organization. In a certain work setting, there may be a great number of women

compared to men; there may be distinctions in age, education, working period or years of

experience, different outlooks on work, a different understanding of the work setting, job

security, promotion opportunities, remuneration opportunities and more. In addition, distinctions

among employees according to their individual differences are sizable and in interaction with the

setting. They strongly affect the employees’ motivation in the workplace.

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2. Main Body

2.1 Case Scenario

Employees working at XYZ Hypermarket in Jeddah Saudi Arabia are nothing but happy

employees. They enjoy their daily work and always perform their job accordingly. They feel

motivated to work effectively and efficiently due to the positive work environment they are

currently in. The company allows them to leave the job premises as soon as their working hours

have been completed. There is no mandatory overtime, no pressures and there is proper

distribution of jobs amongst all employees. They were even allowed to take emergency leaves as

the need arises. There is also an internal promotion for high-performing employees. In addition,

the company is providing remarkable benefits like paid annual and semi-annual vacation leaves,

sick leaves, company team building, continuing professional development seminars, performance

bonuses, and other favourable benefits. The company is doing well financially for the past ten

(10) years.

Until one day, in January 2021, Sophia the daughter of the President of the company was

appointed as the new human resource manager. She immediately took over the role despite

having no prior experience or training in managing the human resource department. Her

background is more in information and communication technology. In her perception, the

company policies regarding the employees are too relaxed hence she made various amendments

without consulting other department managers and the board of directors. The top management

had also supported these changes without doing any further reviews. Some of the new policies

she introduced are:

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(1) The payment of annual leave salary will only be given if you resume work from vacation, it

could not be requested prior to annual leave.

(2) The airfare ticket of expatriate employees will be no longer shouldered by the company, and

it will be at the employees’ cost.

(3) The employees were required to render extended working hours without paying the overtime

premiums and are paid based on the regular rate.

(4) A possibility for a permanent position after successfully completing the probationary period

is no longer taken into consideration to refrain from providing the same company benefits.

(5) The seminars will no longer be paid for by the company but to be absorbed by participating

employees.

(6) The performance bonus will only be given to managerial positions.

Apart from these, the company has stopped engaging with employees and shows no appreciation

for their efforts. The company also proposed a new probationary employment contract to those

regular employees from the rank-and-file category, in which the company could exercise its right

to terminate this contract upon expiry. Though some managers felt the urge to take further steps

to enlighten the human resource manager, they had decided not to oppose these changes.

The situation has gone worst, and the stressful environment is noticeable. As a result, employees

are starting to lose interest in their job, and most felt completely demotivated. Some are taking

unnecessary absences, planning to resign, and searching for jobs in other companies. Others are

filing complaints to the Labor Department to stop these inappropriate company practices.
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The sudden changes have caused a negative impact on the company. The company is struggling

with the recruitment of staff because most applicants are withdrawing their applications when

they learn about the current situation of the company. The company is experiencing a weakened

workforce due to a lack of manpower, so it is forced to close some of the branch stores. The

company is also highlighted in the top news with negative feedback from their customers due to

poor customer service.

2.2 Problem Questions and Answers

(1) What are the main issues that trigger the demotivation of employees at XYZ

Hypermarket?

Answer:

Some of the main issues that trigger demotivation of employees at XYZ Hypermarket

are:

i. Employing an inexperienced HR manager who lacks knowledge & skill in the

field of human resource management.

ii. Decisions were not made in harmony with other departments of the company.

iii. The right recruitment process was ignored by the company.

iv. Fringe benefits were totally scrapped by the new HR manager

(2) What are the motivational factors and necessary steps that the management should

promote or implement to increase employee motivation or decrease the issue of lack of

motivation?

Answer:
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The following are some of motivational factors to increase the level of employee motivation

and improve company productivity.

i. The current human resource manager must be replaced with a qualified human

resource manager well experienced and with a good knowledge background of

managing a workforce.

ii. Organize a meeting with all the managers and employees to discuss and address all

employees´ concerns.

iii. Promote regular communication between managers and employees through team

building and activities to improve the relationship between these two groups and to

show appreciation and recognition to all employees for their work efforts.

iv. Retain a fair long-term benefit and provide competitive pay to ensure employee

retention and employee engagement with the company goals.

v. Offer opportunities for internal promotion, career advancement, and support seminars

to help employees and managers enhance their skills and knowledge.

(3) What are the important aspects that the company should take note of to prevent the

reoccurrence of the same crisis in the future?

Answer:

Appointing a human resource manager is one of the crucial decisions that management must

make. Certain qualifications or training should be regarded to ensure the role could be

handled well. It was said that to be an effective manager, a manager should be the one who

gets results and keeps her people.

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2.3 Theories of Motivation and its Relevance to the Case

Theories developed by Maslow, Hertzberg, McGregor, and Vroom are very important in the

research and understanding of motivation. In the research of human motivation, Maslow’s

Hierarchy of Human Needs is one of the most important and popular theories (Huitt, 2002). This

theory explains that a human being has five levels of needs: physiological, social, safety, self-

esteem, and self-actualization needs. According to Grenshing-Pophal (2002, p 9), this theory

suggests that a person moves to a higher level of need only when lower-level needs in the

hierarchy have been met.

According to some theories, it states that money is a far more important issue to survive than a

motivator for people who are on minimum wages. It further explains that motivation comes from

perception while money can influence an individual’s external behavior.

In the light of Maslow’s need hierarchy, McGregor developed a theory where he divided the

employees into two categories and named them Theory X and Theory Y. Employees in the first

category will work hard if there is a substantial reward. On the other hand, employees in Theory

Y are more self-driven. They are always looking for new ideas to work on (Grenshing-Pophal,

2002, p. 10). The theory developed by McGregor suggests that different level of employees

needs to be managed in different ways.

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Employees are motivated by factors that are totally different from the factors that de-motivate

them. Employee motivation is classified into two categories: motivators and hygiene. Hygiene

factors are extrinsic factors such as money, policies, and work environment which may create

dissatisfaction among employees if they are not adequately addressed. On the other hand,

motivators include intrinsic factors like the challenge, responsibility, and creativity. Herzberg

suggests that if an intrinsic factor meets the need of an employee’s need for esteem and

achievement, it can motivate an employee to work harder (Herzberg, 2003).

Expectancy theory developed by Vroom, in 1964, was specifically designed for workplaces. This

theory was developed to examine whether employees are intrinsically motivated or not

motivated. According to this theory, an employee will work hard in a particular direction when

he sees an opportunity to achieve his goals. This theory advocates that an employee will choose

to work hard towards something that will result in the desired outcome such as a salary increase,

a promotion, or a permanent position. An employee will actively choose the action to perform

from different alternatives that will result in a more valuable outcome (Lawler et al. 2009).

It is therefore imperative that in motivating employees, it is significant to consider human needs

as this correlates with the source of employee motivation. Without considering these facts,

employee motivation would fall and the situation of a company would be in the same dilemma as

XYZ company where the new HR Manager scrapped almost all its sources of employee

motivation. As McGregor said in his theory, an employee with a substantial reward will be more

likely to work hard. Limiting and reducing the fringe benefits of XYZ Hypermarket employees

heavily impacted their foundation and perception of the meaning of a driven employee. On a side
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note, the opportunity to be in a permanent position has affected the motivation of the employees

under probation or even those who have been working really hard to get a position or salary

increment. Expectancy theory clearly relates to the case of XYZ Hypermarket that an employee

will work hard in the direction of the company’s goal and objective if he/she sees an opportunity

to achieve his/her goals. Therefore, restricting an opportunity for the employees to have a

permanent position, get a promotion, or receive a raise in their wage greatly distresses the line

and foundation of a motivated employee. Understanding and applying the right tool from the

theories of motivation in the case of XYZ company would substantially help the company solve

its issues concerning demotivated employees and would definitely give a huge benefit to the

company as a whole.
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3. Conclusion

Communication is an important factor that contributes to motivating employees. An organization

with effective communication will surely help employees to feel recognized and appreciated. It

is relevant therefore that management should take further steps to promote and keep positive

motivation at the workplace to attain business productivity and maintain a healthy workplace.

An employee who is motivated is driven to achieve good results and willing to go the extra mile

to perform more. Keeping the employee benefits and showing appreciation and recognition to

employees are effective ways to retain their motivation.

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References

Gorenšek, M. (2020)

Employee Motivation at the Workplace: Case Study of Slovenian Company, page 292

Horstman, M. (2016)

The Effective Manager, page 4

Mordue, S. (2021)

How to Thrive at Work: Mindfulness, Motivation and Productivity, page 23

Salamun, A. (2012)

Employee Motivation. A Case Study from the Fast Food Chain KFC in Central London

Stewart, H. (2013)

The Happy Manifesto: Make Your Organization a Great Workplace, page 1